


Heterodyne Family Meta

by krakenlord



Category: Girl Genius
Genre: Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Meta, Research, Timelines
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-26
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-10-24 09:12:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10738644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krakenlord/pseuds/krakenlord
Summary: A Heterodyne family timeline & genealogy, notes on my reasoning, proposed mad theories of varying plausibility, and perhaps more meta in the future.





	1. A Proposed Timeline of the Heterodyne Family

**Author's Note:**

> **Sources:** Wikipedia, the great font from which all knowledge on things like Mongol invasions, castle construction, and the Borgias flows forth. The Girl Genius wiki for a list of confirmed Heterodynes, for a pretty comprehensive internal chronology, and for the /Transylvania/Mad discussion, especially [Thoughts on Yarth's Transylvanian History](http://girlgenius.wikia.com/wiki/Transylvania/Mad#Thoughts_on_Yarth.27s_Transylvanian_History). The Comic Con '08 report by sweetpea_grubb on livejournal for [ Jäger ages](http://sweetpea-grubb.livejournal.com/224419.html). The first chapter of [gisho](http://archiveofourown.org/users/gisho/pseuds/gisho)'s work [Clanks, Germs, & Steel](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6193066/chapters/14188297), which is much more thoroughly sourced than my own timeline, down to the page numbers in the comic. Also thanks to gisho again for beta-ing and being generally wonderful. Hats off to you!

(see Chapter 2 for reasoning)

 

1000 ish - **Ghengis Htrok’din** finds and drinks from the Dyne spring.

 1042 - **Knife** finishes construction on the first Castle Heterodyne.

 10?? - **Egregious** destroys Castle 1 and widens the Dyne. He builds Castle 2.

1192 (or later) - The oldest of the Jägergenerals is born. 

12?? - **Vlad the Blasphemous** is born.

(?) 1230 ish - **Vlad the Blasphemous** creates the first Jägers.

 1260 (or later) - **Faustus** is born, potentially **Vlad** ’s son.

 1288 - Castle 4 is destroyed, and construction begins on Castle 5.

 1292 (or later) - The youngest of the Jägergenerals is born.

 1298 - Castle 5 is finished, **Faustus** makes the Castle self-aware.

 1300 (or earlier) - **Faustus** kidnaps himself a town. Presumably dies not too long after.

 13??-15?? - **Igneous** explodes after drinking Dyne water.

 1470 ish - **Dagon** is born.

 1492 ish (or later) - The Skull-Queen of Skral sends her warrior homunculi to catch **Dagon** ’s interest.

 1520 ish - **Venthraxus** is born, potentially **Dagon** and Skull-Queen’s son.

 1540-1550 - **Robur** is born, potentially **Venthraxus** ’s son.

 1530-1560 ish - **Venthraxus** dedicates a kitchen to his personal cook.

 1575 - **Lazarus** is born, potentially **Robur** ’s son.

 1592 - **Robur** breaks time and summons the Dreen. He’d be about 40 or 50. Dimo is born?

 1596 - **Black** & **Red** are born, presumably **Lazarus’** sons or nephews, since he’d be 23.

 1602 - **Lazarus** dies.

 1604 - **Lazarus** dies.

 1609 - **Lazarus** dies.

 1610 (or earlier) - **Robur** dies. Oggie and Maxim are likely born before this date, as they fought with **Red.**

 1614 - **Lazarus** dies.

 1616 ish - **Clemethious** is born, likely the son of **Black** or **Red**.

 1623 - **Lazarus** dies for good at 50.

 1630 ish (or later) - **Bludtharst** & **Euphrosynia** are born.

 1638 - Andronicus is born.

 1655 - **Black** is entombed in the family crypt at 59. Might be a vampire.

 1668 - Andronicus begins construction on Palace of Enlightenment, Van Rijn begins construction on the Muses.

 1673 - **Bludtharst** battles Andronicus & Coalition of the West. Van Rijn finishes the Muses.

 1676 - **Euphrosynia** & Andronicus married after battle ends in the Treaty of Sturmhalten

 1677 - There is a “major change” to Castle Heterodyne. The Treaty of Sturmhalten ends? **Clemethious** dies?

 1691 (or earlier) - Andronicus’ reign ends when he is imprisoned beneath Paris. The Knights of Jove are ‘destroyed.’

 1691 (or later) - **Bludtharst** dies(?) and **Dante/Gradok** **The Dour/The Good** takes charge. See **notes (ch 2)**.

 1700 (or later) - **The Good Heterodyne** builds the Red Cathedral on a bet from Vadim Sturmvoraus, Prince of Sturmhalten.

 1710 ish - **Iscarriot** is born, potentially the son of **Dante/Gradok**.

 1723 - **Telemacous** (An Innocent) is born and dies in the same year.

 1740 ish - **Alexandros** is born, son of **Iscarriot**.

 1760 (or later) - **Alexandros** rebuilds Oggie’s horse.

 1770 ish - “ **Magnus** ”, **Zagnut** and **Ominox** are born, sons of **Alexandros**.

 1790 ish (or later) - **Zagnut** is torn in half when testing his corporeal duplicator.

 1800 ish - **Saturnus** is born. Son of “ **Magnus** ”.

 1833 (or earlier) - **Saturnus** builds The Beast and ‘marries’ Teodora Vodenicharova.   **Ominox** dies?

 1834 - **William (Bill)** is born to **Saturnus** and Teodora.

 1836 - **Barry** is born to **Saturnus** and Teodora.

 1850 - **Saturnus** & Teodora die, **Bill** becomes The Heterodyne.

 1861 (or earlier) - Teodora Vodenicharova is recognized as a saint by five Popes “less than 12 years after her death”.

 1872 - **Klaus Barry** is born, son of **Bill** and Lucrezia.

 1873 - **Klaus Barry** dies. **Agatha** is born, daughter of of **Bill** and Lucrezia.

 1876 - **Bill** dies at 42.

 1892 - _Girl Genius_ begins in March(?) when **Agatha** is 19.

 

**Still Unaccounted For**

 

 **Pluto** introduced the City Watch to Mechanicsburg. 

**Occam** made Occam’s Razor, which is stored somewhere in Mechanicsburg and can apparently cut through anything. Presumably, he enjoyed puns. Could fall anywhere on the timeline after 1287.

 **Zød** is buried in the crypt between Red and Black.

 **Caligula** ’s grave in the family crypt is topped with a dragon with a sword through its head.

 **Hexagonal** is pictured in a portrait in the background of the Castle arc.

 **Tympanus** was a composer and wrote at least 7 symphonies, #7 of which is titled “More Big Drums And Screaming.”

 **Queeg** declared that all Mechanicsburg children must learn to play a musical instrument as punishment for the Incredibly Brief Rebellion.

 **Iago** ’s favorite lab was the Red Playroom.

 **Satyricus** had a seraglio (and presumably many children).

 **Vipsania** was known for the Cabinet of Contagion.

 **Mordred** , **Oxalof** , **Vicuna** , **Slantax** , and **Nifferti** (and Bob) share a burial column in the crypt.


	2. Notes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Notes on my reasoning for ... why I put stuff where I did.

**Notes**

 

There are roughly 4 generations per century, and Agatha has “fifty generations of lowered expectations” working in her favor. I’m assuming that Heterodynes tend to produce heirs, begin raiding, and work on whatever they’re known for starting in their 20s, which is why many of the birth dates are 20-30 years before the dates for those. Having heirs in their 20s is backed up by Castle and Higgs’ interaction on [20110208](http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110208). Life expectancy for the average Heterodyne seems to be 50s, 60s max. I wouldn’t be surprised if it tends to run shorter than my estimate.

 

Anyone buried in the family crypt or seen depicted in artwork inside Castle, or is mentioned by Castle, is assumed to be post-Faustus. I’m not counting “Bob” Heterodyne, even though he’s buried in the family crypt. I don’t think the crypts are older than Castle 5, unless they’re much farther underground than I’ve assumed, in which case they’re more likely to have survived the destruction of the previous castles.

 

Between 1042 and 1288, Castle Heterodyne was destroyed and rebuilt three times. Medieval castles generally took 2-10 years to build, but could take 20 or more. Castle 5 (the current one) took 10 years to build, as stated by Vanamonde. I don’t think the fourth Castle Heterodyne was destroyed and rebuilt by Vlad, so I’d hazard a guess that perhaps Vlad’s dad was the fourth Castle’s creator.

 

William of Ockham, the theologian who is known for coming up with the philosophical rule of Occam’s Razor, was born in 1287. Occam Heterodyne therefore falls after this date. I very nearly attributed 1287 to Occam as his birth year before remembering that Agatha knows of the philosophical rule, which means both William of Ockham and Occam Heterodyne existed at some point. Occam comes after Vlad, since Zog is the one who remembers Occam's Razor (the weapon).

 

According to the third novel, the Skull-Queen sent her warrior homunculi ‘four centuries ago’, which places Dagon’s birth around 1470. (Thanks gisho!)

 

Venthraxus thought that a cook who believed he was a Borgia reincarnated was extremely funny. The most likely Borgia is Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519), the one tied most closely to poisons, which would place Venthraxus right before Robur.

 

The Black and Red Heterodynes have been treated as twins for the sake of convenience, since it hasn’t yet been clarified which one was The Heterodyne (and therefore who’s older).

 

Louis XIV (the Sun King) was born in 1638, so I’ve given that date to Andronicus instead, since he seems to be Europa’s Louis XIV. I’m going to theorize that Euphrosynia is about the same age or slightly younger, and that Bludtharst is her older brother, to keep a parallel with Agatha and Klaus Barry.

 

The Good Heterodyne/Dante/Gradok the Dour is an interesting case. Bludtharst is Clemethious’ son, but after the Storm King war, Gradok the Dour takes charge, so presumably Bludtharst dies. There’s no way to tell who he’s related to, he could be Clemethious’ youngest, Bludtharst’s son, or a cousin once removed since Clemethious doesn’t seem to have any siblings. Gradok the Dour is apparently later called “the Good,” but the novels state that this was Dante Heterodyne’s title. Klaus has either squashed Dante and Gradok together for the sake of storytelling, in which case it’s likely that Dante the Good and Gradok the Dour were contemporaries, or… who knows?

I'm personally interpreting them as being Dante the Good and Gradok the Dour, brothers or cousins and immediate successors to Bludtharst, because it Makes Sense.

Dante, whoever he was, definitely made the Eleven Sins. If he is the Good Heterodyne, evidently he made the pious Prince of Sturmhalten eat his hat by building the Cathedral, so it's not too much of a stretch to conclude that he also built 11 killer robots based on mortal sins.

 

The Generals are between 600-700 by Word of Foglio, which puts them in the Vlad-Faustus range. Da Boyz are between 250-300, with Maxim being the youngest, putting them in the Lazarus-Clemethious range. Oggie for certain fought alongside the Red Heterodyne, and Clockwork Princess implies that Maxim did too.

  
There’s an “equestrian” statue of Alexandros with a horse’s head inside Castle, and Agatha’s great-great-grandfather apparently rebuilt Oggie’s horse. For convenience, I’m assuming that they’re the same person. I’ve also nicknamed Agatha’s great-grandfather “Magnus” since he apparently magnetized all of Mechanicsburg’s children.

 

Saturnus and Pluto are definitely contemporaries. Pluto is either Saturnus' father or brother, but I doubt we'll ever get an answer on that one. The naming scheme suggests brothers, so do with that what you will.


	3. Theories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mad theories of varying plausibility. Expect this chapter to be updated periodically as more information comes to light.

Mordred, Oxalof, Vicuna, Slantax, and Nifferti (best guess, the name is hard to read) all share a burial column in the crypt. I’m assuming they’re all directly related because they’re basically buried together. They might be Satyricus’ kids, but I doubt Vicuna and Nifferti are contemporaries since they both have pretty feminine names and it’s unlikely for there to be two Heterodyne daughters at the same time. Perhaps one or both of them were Satyricus’ wives? Judging by the number of doors in the [seraglio](http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100924), he must have had a _lot_ of consorts.

 

Nifferti might be the woman depicted by the bust in the Castle’s library. It’s of a woman with African features wearing a New Kingdom-style wig and wearing jewelry with an unidentified sigil. At the level of detail the bust is drawn at, it’s impossible to tell whether she’s wearing the Heterodyne trilobite or the Beetle scarab, but I like to think she’s a Heterodyne. Nifferti sounds like it might be a nod to Nefertiti… It’s an Egyptian-style bust in the library… Alexandria in Egypt was famous for its library… I’m really reaching at this point but you get the idea.

 

Hexagonal Heterodyne is most likely a joke, seeing as he only appears in a not-super-serious portrait in the background of 20110304.

 

The female Heterodynes we know of are Agatha and Euphrosynia. Vipsania, Vicuna, and Nifferti are probably also female, and by necessity must come before Euphrosynia. Vicuna and Nifferti may not be Heterodynes by blood, though.

 

Perhaps female Jägers were created exclusively when there was a female Heterodyne who needed guards? This could place an unspecified female Heterodyne right after Faustus, since Gkika, who is probably the youngest Jägergeneral since she’s the least mutated, would be the right age around that time. This is definitely not my preferred explanation for female Jägers, but it’s at least worth considering.

  
I’m tempted to say Vipsania and Venthraxus are siblings due to similar names. I have no evidence, they just sound _really_ good together. Also, Tympanus and Queeg might be contemporaries? I like to think that Tympanus comes in the generation after Queeg, either as a son or nephew, since he was something of a composer.


End file.
